A Florida plane crash involving a private jet carrying nine people in Palm Beach County has left all passengers dead after the aircraft plummeted into a residential neighborhood road.
According to U.S. media outlets like CNN on November 1 (local time), flight tracking data analyzed by experts indicates that the jet made a steep 27,000-foot (approximately 8,230 meters) dive during the final minute before crashing into a road near a residential area located about 6 kilometers south of West Palm Beach Airport.
Footage released by CNN affiliate WPBF showed the jet engulfed in flames immediately after impact. The collision severely warped the road’s surface and carved out a massive, deep crater.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the crash site as looking “like a missile hit,” noting that while there were no reports of ground casualties, a substantial debris field was created. County officials reported that approximately 600 people required evacuation shelters due to the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that the aircraft was a Learjet 60 registered for charter use, traveling from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas to the Bahamas in the Caribbean.
Severe thunderstorms were passing through the region intermittently at the time of the accident. The jet reportedly passed through a heavy thunderstorm zone just minutes before beginning its rapid descent, though it remains unconfirmed whether the weather was a direct cause.
The FAA plans to investigate the cause of the accident alongside the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Authorities have closed roads surrounding the crash site and advised motorists to use detours until further notice.
According to NTSB records, this incident marks the second-deadliest aviation accident in the U.S. this year, following a June crash in Butler, Missouri, involving a skydiving aircraft that claimed 12 lives.
CNN reported that President Donald Trump was staying at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and departed from the nearby West Palm Beach Airport aboard the presidential aircraft Air Force One about an hour before the accident occurred.
